AlphaTauri stand-in Liam Lawson has praised "amazing guy" Daniel Ricciardo for being supportive during his debut F1 race weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix. New Zealander Lawson was called up at the 11th hour to compete at Zandvoort after Ricciardo, who himself had only returned to the grid in place of Nyck de Vries at the Hungarian Grand Prix, broke a metacarpal in his left hand during a crash in second practice. It means that Lawson, who has been involved in the championship battle in Japan's Super Formula series, has been given his F1 chance with confirmation that he will be alongside Yuki Tsunoda until Ricciardo returns to fitness. Asked if there had been any advice given by the Australian, Lawson told media including RacingNews365.com : "We spoke after the announcements. "He was still at the track and Daniel, being the amazing guy that he is, was extremely supportive and offered any help that he could give. "So obviously something like this is not the way I would have chosen to come into F1, it is not something you want to see - especially to someone like Daniel. "But as I said, you only get one shot and it has come now."
You only get one shot
Lawson had been tipped as a future AlphaTauri driver since leaving F2 for Japan, given his impressive introduction to Super Formula. But having seen Ricciardo placed alongside Tsunoda after de Vries' ousting, it seemed unlikely Lawson would get his chance in F1 and whilst he is aware of the opportunity that has been presented, he won't become consumed by future possibilities. "I think anytime you get a shot... you only get one shot at F1 and for me, that has come right now," explained Lawson. "I understand the importance of it, for sure, but it is not something I am looking at trying to set up for next year. "Right now, the focus is on this weekend. I know how important it is but that is as far as it goes."
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